Could Ren & Stimpy be about to make a comeback?
Bringing back animated series to the modern era has been a hot ticket item recently, with series such as Rugrats, Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Powerpuff Girls, and many others often brought back almost decades following their debuts. Now, it seems as though Nickelodeon's surreal duo, Ren & Stimpy, are set to receive their own animated reboot as a big update has found its way online as the original show celebrates its 34th anniversary. First premiering as one of the original Nicktoons, the series would oftentimes be as dark as it was hilarious.
The Ren & Stimpy Show first arrived on Nickelodeon on August 11, 1991, garnering five seasons and over fifty episodes to follow along with the crude protagonists. Following the series original end, the canine and feline were rebooted thanks to 2003's Ren And Stimpy: Adult Cartoon Party. This iteration offered a far more mature take on Stimpy and Ren, but failed to catch an audience that would see it live past its initial season on Spike TV.
Comedy Central announced that it had commissioned a reimagening of Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show in August 2020, as part of the network tapping into IP across Paramount (then called ViacomCBS) to build an original animated slate of adult comedy around stalwart South Park. The Ren & Stimpy Show will join the Beavis and Butt-Head reboot from Mike Judge and Daria spin-off Jodie, starring Tracee Ellis Ross.
"We are excited to reinvent this iconic franchise with a new creative team and our partners at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio," Chris McCarthy, President of ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group, shared in a statement back in 2020 when the news was first announced. "Ren & Stimpy joins our rapidly expanding roster of adult animation, including South Park, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Clone High, as we continue to reimagine our treasure chest of beloved IP for new generations."
Original The Ren & Stimpy Show voice actor Billy West is returning for the English dub of the series.
It will not, however, involve John Kricfalusi, with the show's creator having no creative input into nor receiving any financial remuneration from the new series. Due to a leak of an episode, it has been revealed that Kricfalusi won't be mentioned in the credits.
The leak has revealed, however, that Vanessa Coffey, who helped create Nickelodeon's first three Nicktoons series - Rugrats, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Doug - is back as an executive producer.
However, Bob Camp (who was initially planned to participate but left the project due to creative differences), is not involved.
Ren & Stimpy's return
The return of Ren and Stimpy has been a bit complicated, with hardly any news of the series being revealed since the reboot's initial announcement.
Then, last year, Comedy Central had planned to debut the series across its international feeds in July, ahead of a wider global rollout, including on Comedy Central USA, launching with the episode segments "Renhattan / Table for Human / Clear Toilet". However, the show was pulled from the schedules just before its planned launch.
Since then, nothing much has been said about the series, until now.
Paramount+, the streaming home for most of Paramount's shows and movies, has added a show page for the reboot, where it's titled Ren and Stimpy Show (2021), indicating that the show was originally meant to premiere in 2021.
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| Screenshot courtesy of @JasonSt77097165 |
Paramount+'s show page for the Ren & Stimpy reboot doesn't currently feature any episodes, but does offer a synopsis of the series: "Oh Joy! This slapstick buddy comedy centers on a skinny, temperamental chihuahua Ren and his trusting feline sidekick, Stimpy. Together, this twisted twosome find themselves in crazy absurd adventures."
Whilst the addition of a Ren & Stimpy Show (2021) page doesn't necessarily confirm that the reboot is premiering soon, it is a sign that the show may be gearing up for a launch quite soon, whether its on linear TV (Comedy Central) or streaming (Paramount Plus).
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Originally published: August 11, 2025.
